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Dark City Director's Cut in 2006

post #1 of 93
11/6/05 at 2:46am
Thread Starter 
According to his Great Movies essay on Dark City, Roger Ebert mentions that he recorded a commentary for the Directors Cut of Dark City, to be released in 2006.

Roger Ebert's Great Movie essay on Dark City.

I'll be picking this up. All of his previous commentaries have been well worth the listen. Just his commentary track will be worth the double-dip.
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post #2 of 93
11/6/05 at 2:57am
Director's cut? I thought the theatrical release was the "director's cut".
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post #3 of 93
11/6/05 at 6:17am
And didn't he already record a great commentary for the first release?

(He did)
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post #4 of 93
11/6/05 at 8:18am
I remember DARK CITY was delayed for quite a long time before it finally got released theatrically. It doesn't surprise me one bit that it was possibly tampered with by the studio.

Vincent
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post #5 of 93
11/6/05 at 8:31am
I'll buy this. Not a big deal in terms of price since I got the original DVD for $5.
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post #6 of 93
11/6/05 at 8:53am
A 1998 film in the Great Movies list, is this a record?

It will be interesting to see what the directors cut will contain.
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post #7 of 93
11/6/05 at 8:58am
Quote:
And didn't he already record a great documentary for the first release?


Did you mean commentary, because when I owned it (before I sold it), I could have sworn I listened to Ebert's commentary. The movie is ok, but upon subsequent viewings, I got really sick of the film and just had to get rid of it.
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post #8 of 93
11/6/05 at 9:50am
Dark City without the opening narration is really the director's cut but I think Proyas will add additional scenes that were never filmed. I guess that's okay but it might screw up the flow of the story.

I knew one day Ebert would include DC in his great movies section.
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post #9 of 93
11/6/05 at 12:09pm
Quote:
A 1998 film in the Great Movies list, is this a record?

A few months ago he added the 1999 film "The Terrorist" to the "Great Movies" list, so it's not quite the newest film on his list.

I still have yet to see the film, so I'm thinking that I'll spend $5 for the old release (which I've heard still looks quite good) and see if I want to pay the extra money for a "Special Edition."
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post #10 of 93
11/6/05 at 12:31pm
Yeah Mark--Will be interesting to see if the DC drops that opening v.o. which I think it's Proyas says at beginning of current commentary was something the studio insisted upon.

-p
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post #11 of 93
11/6/05 at 1:00pm
I can certainly see the opening voice over being dropped, but what could be added?

I hope that the new scenes (if any) don't take anything away from the great pace and mystery of the film, maybe the final 20 minutes could have some added so the transition for John isn't so quick.

The 1998 release still looks great, and for 5 bucks you're getting a heck of a film.
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post #12 of 93
11/6/05 at 1:21pm
This is one title that is overdue for a new release, especially since the previous version's bass is way overcooked.
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post #13 of 93
11/6/05 at 2:43pm
There is definitely an Ebert commentary on the existing disc. It makes you wonder if he recorded an all-new commentary or if they pulled a "Sling Blade" and just had him record new comments for the added scenes.
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post #14 of 93
11/6/05 at 3:51pm
I think the film is excellent, but it really does feel like stuff was cut out to shorten the film.
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post #15 of 93
11/6/05 at 6:27pm
I had a thread here long time ago wishing for a re-release of this movie without the opening narration (and it was loudly shouted down by people saying "the current disc is fine" - which I disagree with...it was a good 1998 disc but could look so much better with modern encoding).

If that's the only change, I'll be happy with it. If Proyas inserts deleted scenes, I'll definitely be interested in seeing the new version. I've loved the original film since it was released, so double dipping is not a problem for me.

FWIW, I thought the delays in releasing the movie were over the title. Originally it was called Dark City and WB didn't want it to be confused with Mad City (the Travolta bomb released around the same time). So the filmmakers wanted Dark Empire, but then Lucasfilm's lawyers apparently asserted that they couldn't use the words Dark and Empire together in a movie title (I guess the Dark side of the Force and Empire Strikes Back being Lucasfilm "words" played into it).

And finally, a total of twelve people saw Mad City so WB dropped the concerns about the original title and let Proyas release the film under its original name. Having listened to the commentary of the first DVD, the only change he seems to lament is the forcing of the opening narration, and I totally agree with him that without that narration, the movie takes on a very film-noir mystery atmosphere that would have served it well. Much better than the opening voiceover by Sutherland...
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post #16 of 93
11/6/05 at 7:53pm
I also have to wonder if this is truly something that Proyas wanted to do or if New Line is just following the current trend of releasing longer versions of films with little regard as to whether or not longer means better. I think the film plays brilliantly the way it is. I do agree that while the old transfer is acceptable it certainly isn't stunning compared to modern transfers. The opening scene alone has macroblocking all over the place.
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post #17 of 93
11/6/05 at 8:23pm
Thread Starter 
For those asking if the commentary is new or not, here what is written at the very end of the essay:

Note: Ebert did commentary tracks for the original DVD of "Dark City" and the forthcoming 2006 Director's Cut. There are Great Movies essays on "Metropolis," "M" and "2001" online at rogerebert.com.
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post #18 of 93
11/6/05 at 9:18pm
Hopefully the new transfer will have more of the shadow detail in the theatrical prints I've seen. The current dvd also has a tad too much EE but still looks terrific for it's time.

The opening narration never really bothered me because I was always too busy paying attention to the visuals at that point.
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post #19 of 93
11/7/05 at 12:17pm
At least Kiefer did a decent job unlike Harrison Ford who PURPOSEFULLY did his opening BR narration poorly so that they wouldn't use it.

d
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post #20 of 93
11/7/05 at 1:55pm
That's just a persistent rumour and one that's being denied by Harrison Ford (althought he was against a 'voice over' and complained about not finding the right mood). But personally, in the end, I think that Ford's disengaging narration kinda fits the character seen on screen, a character that appears equally uninterested in the story as its voice over. Anyway, looking at the voice over and Sci-Fi 40s look, it's clear where 'Dark City' got its inspiration from.




Alex
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post #21 of 93
11/7/05 at 3:16pm
Well, in Paul Sammon's book, "Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner" there is a whole section on this with a few people stating that Harrison hated the idea of the narration and having to record it three times, purposefully recited it badly on the third version, (according to Katy Haber, production executive who was actually at the recording session, page 298 of the book) hoping that they wouldn't be able to use it.... That's the version they released it with... So it's not a rumor to her as she went on record in the book saying that.
If Harrison denied it years later it wouldn't surprise me as it makes him look unprofessional. And I love Harrison, but the narration is awfully read IMHO.

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post #22 of 93
11/8/05 at 2:06am
It's Katy Haber that is responsible for creating this rumour, but it's nothing more than an assessment. Her valuation is just her "take" on the matter. It's solely based on an assumption. It's how she sees it, or how she explains it to herself. Of course, it doesn't mean that's it's the truth.

Yes, Harrison hated the voice over, just like he hated the idea that he would be a replicant in the end.


Now, back to 'Dark City' or we both get banned !
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post #23 of 93
11/8/05 at 11:38am
true, true...

Dark City is one of my faves but unfortunately I am VERY rainbow sensitive and it is one of the few titles I own that REALLY trigger the effect for me with my DLP.

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post #24 of 93
11/8/05 at 3:39pm
I've read that a lot of fans actually go to the effort of muting VO at the beginning every time they watch it, which strikes me as pretty absurd. I think there's a case to be made that this should be done the first time someone watches the movie, but what's the point of muting the VO on your second, third, fourth viewing, etc.? I'm sure these viewers haven't completely forgotten the events of the movie as a whole, so why make the effort to mute out a "spoiler"? Also, you aren't just muting the VO, you're muting the score, too. The whole thing just strikes me as sort of ridiculous.
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post #25 of 93
11/8/05 at 3:43pm
Quote:
The whole thing just strikes me as sort of ridiculous.
Yes, they might as well be sticking their fingers in their ears and saying "la la la" until it's over.
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post #26 of 93
11/8/05 at 4:34pm
I believe that in the script there were scenes involving a kid parents being taken or killed and the kid was found by the main character and rescued, i do not know if these scenes were shot or not

maybe these are some of the deleted scenes
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post #27 of 93
11/8/05 at 8:17pm
I actually have muted it once, when showing it to friends who had never seen the movie before. Afterwards, I explained why I did what I did and played the opening VO. All three (2 women, one man, in case anyone cares about how the sexes feel about it) agreed wholeheartedly that it was better without the VO.

Personally, even though I love this film and have it in my top 5 of the last 10 years, I don't watch it over and over and keep muting the intro. The 2 or 3 times I've seen it in the last few years, I've just started the movie and went and got a soda and chips or whatever while the opening VO is going on. By the time I get back to my couch the VO is pretty much done.

I certainly wouldn't call someone wanting to mute the VO as ridiculous, any more than I would call someone who transferred their original Star Wars Trilogy LDs onto DVD rather than watching the Special Edition DVDs. It's about trying to maintain the original intent or best experience of the movie.

If you don't like it, that's cool. But if it works for them, more power to 'em!
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post #28 of 93
11/8/05 at 8:26pm
I'll confess to have never seen Dark City. Should I pick up the current dvd which can be found for barely nothing or wait for the Director's Cut?

This is one of those films that everyone who has seen it really likes it but they also say you need to be in the mood for it too. It's been on my "must see" list for years.
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post #29 of 93
11/8/05 at 9:19pm
Bill, Guo and Carlo:

Thx for your comments, Carlo.

The goal/ideal is to mute only the center channel audio if one has separates, maintaining the other channels' audio. This is the way it has been handled at some revival screenings.

-p
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post #30 of 93
11/8/05 at 9:25pm
Quote:
I certainly wouldn't call someone wanting to mute the VO as ridiculous, any more than I would call someone who transferred their original Star Wars Trilogy LDs onto DVD rather than watching the Special Edition DVDs. It's about trying to maintain the original intent or best experience of the movie.

The "Star Wars" comparison is completely inappropriate from my point of view. I would think someone that would preserve the original theatrical versions of the "Star Wars" films (which are compromised versions of the director's intent) would also insist upon watching "Dark City" exactly the way it originally screened, with the original VO.


Quote:
The goal/ideal is to mute only the center channel audio if one has separates, maintaining the other channels' audio. This is the way it has been handled at some revival screenings.

Like I said, I understand doing it for the first time (and even on every subsequent viewing if that is your preference) but I just think it's absurd to mute it if you're familiar with the VO. I am, I've seen the movie with the VO every time I've watched it, and even if I were to mute it I would still be thinking "this is where the VO explains a big part of the story". The thought of someone sitting there pretending that they don't know what is being said in the VO is what I found ridiculous. I personally hope that the Director's Cut omits the VO (which I think is a pretty safe assumption) and I have no opposition to the removal of the VO from the theatrical version on a personal, case-by-case basis, I just see it as something illogical in any case other than a first viewing.
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